How Julia Child Helped Shape The James Beard Foundation

There is arguably no higher honor to receive in the culinary world than an award granted by the James Beard Foundation. Celebrating restaurants, restaurateurs, chefs, and others who work in the food industry, the nonprofit has been committed to uplifting America's food culture for more than 30 years. The foundation's namesake, the late chef, author, and modern club sandwich-hater James Beard, was known for pioneering American cuisine during a time when the country was still discovering its own cultural heritage. What many don't know is that another well-known chef and TV star helped in shaping the foundation's mission: none other than the woman of a thousand French cooking tips, Julia Child.

After Beard's passing in 1985, there were no real plans laid out for his home, a row house in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. There, Beard had taught cooking classes out of the first floor, but with no directive from the chef himself, it was to be auctioned off. Child had other plans in mind. At an IACP meeting (International Association of Culinary Professionals), Child suggested they keep Beard's house and use it as a base for a new foundation. The response was overwhelming. Along with one of Beard's students, Peter Kump, Child helped convert his home into a space for all things culinary arts related, including classes, events, and eventually the famous annual award show. 

Long before the awards or the foundation, there was simply a friendship between two people who were both passionate about cooking. Julia Child, a once research assistant for the CIA turned Cordon Bleu-trained French chef, met James Beard for the first time in 1961 after publishing her first cookbook. They quickly realized how much they had in common as both were chefs, cookbook authors, and TV hosts — not to mention both were over six feet tall. The two shared a special kinship and remained close friends until Beard's death in 1985. That's when Child came up with her brilliant idea. Everyone agreed it was important to have a haven for everyone involved in the culinary business, and Beard's house was the perfect place for it.

Both Child and Beard were interested in encouraging and showcasing young chefs, and that's exactly what the James Beard Foundation has done since its inception. The foundation has been instrumental in uplifting new and diverse talent in the industry and, to this day, continues to uphold the tenets Beard exemplified. But now you know: An inspiring friendship with a fellow chef helped shape his vision.